1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to padded garments for athletes possessing flexible pads.
2. Background Art
Padded garments worn by athletes and sport enthusiasts typically include some form of padding to prevent injury to the athlete's body including the ribs, lower back, hips or coccyx. Such injuries can result from a multitude of athletic activities including football, hockey, field hockey, lacrosse, baseball, basketball, cycling or in-line skating.
Known forms of padding for athletic apparel, include closed cell foam, gel-filled cavities, and inflatable cushions filled with pressurized fluid. These forms of padding are relatively inflexible and are not shaped to bend to the contour of the athlete's body and can hinder free movement.
The padding can be attached directly to the inside or outside of the garment or can be located within pockets. Typically the padding is fixedly attached to the garment when not located within a pocket through stitching or adhesive. When the padding is located within a pocket, it is known to fixedly attach the padding to the pocket through stitching or other means in order to prevent it from falling out. However, this prevents the easy removal of the padding when laundering the garment.
There exists a need in the art for padding that is shaped to be more flexible so it can bend to the contour of the athlete's body and so it does not restrict free movement of the athlete's body. In addition, there is a need for pads which, in combination with increased flexibility, are easily removable from the garment to facilitate laundering the garment.
To that end, the present invention is directed to a garment with pads, wherein each pad comprises a plurality of interconnected, spaced apart tubes. The pads are flexible and can bend to the contour of an athlete's body.